Why did I laugh tonight? No voice will tell:
No God, no Demon of severe response,
Deigns to reply from Heaven or from Hell.
Then to my human heart I turn at once.
Heart! Thou and I are here, sad and alone;
I say, why did I laugh? O mortal pain!
O Darkness! Darkness! ever must I moan,
To question Heaven and Hell and Heart in vain.
Why did I laugh? I know this Being’s lease,
My fancy to its utmost blisses spreads;
Yet would I on this very midnight cease,
And the world’s gaudy ensigns see in shreds;
Verse, Fame, and Beauty are intense indeed,
But Death intenser-Death is Life’s high meed.
(John Keats)
More Poetry from John Keats:
John Keats Poems based on Topics: Sadness, Death & Dying, Pain, God, World, Beauty, Hell, Laughter, Fame- Sleep And Poetry (John Keats Poems)
- Otho The Great - Act I (John Keats Poems)
- Isabella; Or, The Pot Of Basil: A Story From Boccaccio (John Keats Poems)
- Hyperion, A Vision: Attempted Reconstruction Of The Poem (John Keats Poems)
- The Eve Of St. Agnes (John Keats Poems)
- Otho The Great - Act V (John Keats Poems)
Readers Who Like This Poem Also Like:
Based on Topics: God Poems, World Poems, Sadness Poems, Death & Dying Poems, Beauty Poems, Pain Poems, Fame Poems, Hell Poems, Laughter PoemsBased on Keywords: meed, lease, blisses, ensigns, deigns, being, shreds